Victim found in West Side church identified as the landlord

Mt. Prospect man, 69, had been missing since Monday

Harold Beilstein's tenants in Chicago first began to suspect something was wrong Tuesday night when he didn't return their calls.

They called just after a man had been found slain in their building on the 5300 block of West Division Street, stretched out in the basement beneath one of the storefront churches, burned beyond recognition. Under normal circumstances, the popular landlord from Mt. Prospect would have called back to put them at ease.

By Wednesday night, they fears were confirmed: It was Beilstein whose body had been discovered, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Through most of the day Wednesday, the North Austin complex, which sits above three storefront churches, was a makeshift memorial for the 69-year-old father of two.

Tenants, former and current, spoke of how reasonable his rents were, how responsive he was to building problems and even how, on occasion, he brought lunch for the residents of his seven units.

"My children called him 'Uncle Harold,' even my 9-year-old daughter," said Jackie Smith, who has lived in the building more than three years. "He was a sweetheart. Every time you saw him, he was smiling."

Former tenant Victoria Blakemore, who moved from the building two years ago, dropped by Wednesday afternoon to pay her respects.

"He was the best landlord I ever had," she said, adding that she regretted moving. "I hope they catch whoever did this."

Tenants and neighbors said Beilstein maintained a near-daily presence at the building and kept an office in the basement, where his body was found. The basement contained a utility room that led to the office, where he had a bathroom, shower and a futon, tenants said.

Jose Como, who did maintenance work at the building, said Beilstein paid him fairly for mowing the lawn and repairing the property.

The building recently had failed a city inspection and was cited for more than 15 violations, ranging from defective light fixtures to roaches, according to the city's Department of Buildings.

Como and others said Beilstein changed the locks to the front and rear of the building two weeks ago, after a former employee stole some tools from the basement. That was not the first time he had been robbed, they said.

Beilstein had been missing since Monday. His wife, Susan, filed a missing-person report with the Mt. Prospect Police Department about 5 p.m. Tuesday. She then contacted one her husband's contractors, James Perkins, asking him to go to the building to check on her husband.

Shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday, Perkins, a friend of Beilstein for 12 years, went to the building's basement and discovered the body. He called police, who arrived at the scene shortly afterward.

"Whoever did it, it was just senseless the way they took it," Perkins said, declining to comment on the specifics of the scene. "I don't know if they tried to burn up the evidence or what, but they didn't need to take to that level."

Nicole Benson, a tenant, said she and her boyfriend, Como, smelled gasoline Monday evening as they entered the building, but they didn't think anything of it. According to Beilstein's family, dental records were needed to identify the body because of the severity of the burning.

Matthew Beilstein said his father's car was found near the 5300 block of West Division, a strip in the struggling Austin neighborhood populated with storefront churches, modest homes and more than its share of crime.

Beilstein also said that it appeared as though money was missing from his father's bank accounts and that his credit cards were being used.